Monthly Archives: April 2023

Passion Week – Day #11

Posted on April 9, 2023 | 2 comments

Matthew 28:1 “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.”

Mark 16:1 “When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him.”

Luke 24:1 “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.”

John 20:1 “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.”

And so begins a day that is full of controversy.

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Passion Week – Day #10

Posted on April 8, 2023 | Comments Off on Passion Week – Day #10

It is now the morning of the weekly Sabbath. Yeshua has been in the tomb for three nights and this is the third day.  His resurrection will happen sometime this evening. (The tomb won’t be open until morning, but that’s a story for tomorrow.)  The women have carried His passion since His crucifixion.  They were there at the cross watching Him die, at the tomb watching Joseph and Nicodemus, and they bought spices to anoint His body.  They were only waiting for this Sabbath to be over so they could go to the tomb with the spices.

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Passion Week – Day #9

Posted on April 7, 2023 | Comments Off on Passion Week – Day #9

Not much is said about the Friday after His death.  Mark 16:1 records that “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.”  Luke 23:56 records that “Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes.  But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.”

Reconciling these two things is a matter of debate.  Mark’s account appears that the Sabbath mentioned is the weekly Sabbath (Saturday) because verse two says that they went to the tomb on the first day of the week.  In Luke’s account, verse 55 says the women watched where Joseph placed the body, and then they went home to prepare spices.  So, what is the timing of the women and the spices? Did they have spices at home to prepare, or did they buy the spices after the Sabbath before going to the tomb? And if the latter is the case, then when did they prepare the spices?

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Passion Week – Day #8

Posted on April 6, 2023 | Comments Off on Passion Week – Day #8

It’s the day after Preparation Day, that being the Passover, so it is now the High Sabbath, the 15th of the first month, and the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and Pharisees go to see Pilate to tell him that Yeshua said He would raise from the dead after three days, so they would like Pilate to place guards at the tomb until those three days were passed (Matt. 27:62-66). 

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Passion Week – Day #7

Posted on April 5, 2023 | Comments Off on Passion Week – Day #7

The evening had come. Passover. It was now the 14th of the first month and Yeshua and His Disciples were reclining at the table. We have already gone over some of the things from yesterday’s post but not necessarily in an orderly fashion. Matthew and Mark record that they had the evening meal and Judas was exposed as the betrayer. Then they both tell of the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Luke doesn’t record Judas being called out as the betrayer but just shows that at the meal, the Lord’s Supper took place. So now, Judas has left the room and Yeshua teaches the remaining disciples. All three synoptic gospels tell of Peter’s future denial, but only Luke records the Disciples arguing over who was the greatest. And then, all three synoptics say that they left for Gethsemane. Next, we’ll see what John records about the further teachings and then get onto the arrest, the trial, and the crucifixion. It’s a long day.

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Passion Week – Day #6

Posted on April 4, 2023 | Comments Off on Passion Week – Day #6

It is now, Tuesday, the 13th of the month. The day before the Passover. 

This day might get a little confusing because of the timing of the day.  We are conditioned to think of a day beginning at midnight.  But the Jewish calendar begins the day at the setting sun when it is evening.  We’re going to be looking at the second half of the 13th, the daytime, but most of this post will actually be what happens on the 14th, in the evening, which would be the beginning of Day #7.

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Passion Week – Day #5

Posted on April 3, 2023 | Comments Off on Passion Week – Day #5

It was now Monday, the second day of the week, the 12th of the month. As Luke recorded (Luke 21:37-38), Yeshua spent the night on the Mount of Olives and returned to the temple to teach some more. Nothing more is recorded about what He taught aside from all the things that were mentioned yesterday. It could be that the parables and teachings were spread between Sunday and Monday, or He could have been teaching on any number of other things, as John reported at the end of his book that Yeshua did many other things that have never been written down (John 21:25).

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Passion Week – Day #4

Posted on April 2, 2023 | Comments Off on Passion Week – Day #4

It is now the first day of the week, the 11th of the month.  His death would come in three days.  There was much that He needed to say, so He went to the temple to teach.

On the way back to Jerusalem, Matthew records that Yeshua curses the fig tree and it immediately withers (Matt. 21:18-22), whereas Mark records that the fig tree He cursed the day before was now withered (Mark 11:20-26).

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Passion Week – Day #3

Posted on April 1, 2023 | Comments Off on Passion Week – Day #3

Shabbat Shalom!

None of the four gospels mentions the weekly Sabbath before the crucifixion. It fits the timeline to place the clearing of the temple on the Sabbath for the following reasons. Traditional understanding places the crucifixion on Friday (hence, Good Friday), but John (12:1) states that six days before the Passover (which would make it the Sabbath), Yeshua and His disciples traveled to Bethany. That was after their stay in Jericho. The distance between the two is roughly 15 miles, too far for travel on the Sabbath. (cf. Acts 1:12, a Sabbath day’s journey from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, a distance of fewer than two miles.) Also, a meal was given upon their arrival in Bethany. While it is not forbidden to entertain guests and relax with friends on the Sabbath, Leviticus 23:3 says that no work is to be done. This includes preparing food. When God sent manna, He instructed them to gather twice as much as they needed on the sixth day and prepare it to be kept for the Sabbath (Exodus 16:21-26). No gathering or cooking was to be done on the day of rest. So, unless Mary, Martha, and the others in Bethany knew that Yeshua and His disciples were coming on the Sabbath, they wouldn’t have been able to cook anything by the Sabbath command. So, it seems unlikely that they traveled to Bethany on the Sabbath. The NIV Study Bible places their arrival on Friday and then says there is no mention of the Sabbath in the account, but concludes that Yeshua observed the Sabbath at Lazarus’ house and then journeyed to Jerusalem for the Triumphal Entry the next day on Sunday. There are two problems with this rendition. First, if the crucifixion were on Good Friday, the arrival in Bethany on the previous Friday would be seven days before Passover, not six as recorded in John. Secondly, John 12:12 says it was the next day that Yeshua rode the donkey into Jerusalem. If the arrival in Bethany were on Friday, the Triumphal Entry would have to be Saturday, not Sunday. The timing doesn’t fit. It’s more plausible for the Triumphal Entry to be on Friday, leaving the clearing of the temple on the Sabbath. Having said all that, let’s begin.

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